Carrying bag of plastics material sheeting

ABSTRACT

A known carrying handle consisting of a flat strip of plastics material folded to a U-shaped configuration is secured at its leg end portions to one wall of the bag at such a distance below the open rim of the bag that the central portion of the handle does not protrude beyond the open rim of the bag when the latter is flattened. The other wall of the bag is formed with a lead-out slot in that area which is in register with the unattached portions of the leg of the handle. The lead-out slot is parallel to the open rim of the bag and has a length which is approximately as large as the width of the carrying handle.

United States Patent Bosse [4 1 June 27, 1972 54] CARRYING BAG 0F PLASTICS 3,504,845 4 1970 Niemeyer ..229/54 R MATERIAL SHEETING 2,838,224 6/1958 Steen ..229/54 c 2,854,185 9/1958 Steen ..229/54 C [72] Invent 453 lbbenburen'nmmhe 3,507,194 4/1970 Schwarzkopf ..229/54 R x Am Wasserwerk 24, Germany [73] Assignee: Windmoller & Holscher, Lengerich of p i E i -D ld F, Norton Westphalia, Germany Attorney-Fleit, Gipple & Jacobson [22] Filed: July 9, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 53,373 [57] ABSTRACT A known carrying handle consisting of a flat strip of plastics material folded to a U-shaped configuration is secured at its Foreign Application Priority Data leg end portions to one wall of the bag at such a distance July I5, 1969 Germany ..P 19 987.6 below the open rim of the bag that the central portion of the handle does not protrude beyond the open rim of the bag 1.8- CI. when the latter is flattened The other wall of the bag is [51] lnt.Cl ..Bd 33/10 f d with a lead out slot in that area which is in register [58] Fleld ofselrch ..229/54 R, 54C; /12 i the unattached portions of the leg f the handle The lead-out slot is parallel to the open rim of the bag and has a [56] Rem-em Cited length which is approximately as large as the width of the car- UNITED STATES PATENTS handle- 3,549,083 12/1970 Canno ..229/54 C X 7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures i #1 F T i I l l i 1 L I L "15 7/ CARRYING BAG OF PLASTICS MATERIAL SI-IEETING It is known to provide carrying bags which consist of plastics material sheeting and comprise two carrying handles, each of which consists of a flat strip of plastics material or paper which has been folded to a U-shaped configuration. Just as in the known carrying bags of paper, these handles are secured to respective walls of the bag adjacent to the open rim thereof. These known carrying bags of plastics material have the disadvantage that they have even poorer stacking properties than similar carrying bags of paper because the plastics material has a very high flexibility and a very low friction. Besides, the thickness of the carrying bag at the end where the carrying handles are attacheddiffers from the thickness at the bottom and the carrying handles protrude freely from the opening at that end of the carrying bag where the handles are attached. Another disadvantage of the known carrying bags resides in that they cannot be closed to prevent an ingress of rain because the carrying bag will necessarily open more or less when it is carried by the two carrying handles. A further disadvantage of the known carrying bags of plastics material resides in that during the entirely mechanized manufacture of these bags the carrying handles are applied to the still unsevered web of plastics material and incisions or weakened transverse lines must be provided first in the web in that area thereof across which the handles will subsequently extend. When the web has been formed into a tubing and the bottom seams have been formed, additional transverse severing cuts are required, which either supplement the existing transverse severing cuts and thus sever each carrying bag from the web, or which form extensions of the weakened transverse lines so that each bag is subsequently torn off along the weakened transverse lines by tear-off rolls.

It is an object of the invention to provide a carrying bag which is free of the above-mentioned disadvantages so that the bag can be stacked well, closed to prevent an ingress of rain, and manufactured in a simple manner. This object is accomplished according to the invention in that only one of the known carrying handles is used which consists of a flat strip of plastics material or paper which has been folded to a U-shaped configuration, and said handle is secured to one bag wall so that the leg end portions of the U-shaped handle are spaced from the open rim of the bag to such an extent that the central portion of the handle does not protrude over the open rim of the bag when the same is flattened, whereas the other wall of the bag, in an area which is in register with the free portions of the handle legs, is formed with a lead-out slot which is parallel to the open rim of the bag and has a length which is substantially as large as the width of the carrying handle. As a result, the carrying bag when out of use has the configuration of a rectangle from which no carrying handles protrude. Because only one carrying handle is provided, the difference between the thicknesses of the two ends of the carrying bag is not so large as with the known carrying bags. When the carrying bag has been filled, the carrying handle must be led out through the slot in the other wall of the bag to enable the bag to be carried. When the handle leads out through the slot, that portion of both bag walls which is disposed between the lead out slot and the open rim of the bag is necessarily folded outwardly onto that bag wall to which the handle is attached so that a closure which prevents an ingress of rain is automatically obtained. The manufacture of the carrying bags is simplified because the lead-out slot may be formed first, whereafter the carrying handle may be adhered or heat-sealed to the bag wall, and the carrying bag can then be severed by a single transverse cut in an area in which this cutting operation is not hindered by the presence of the carrying handle.

If the carrying bag is made from a single-ply web of plastics material sheeting and this web is folded to form a half-tubing when the lead-out slot has been formed and the carrying handle has been attached, whereafter the half-tubing is closed by a longitudinal heat-sealed seam to form a tubing. The carrying handle may be attached to the inside of the respective bag wall. On the other hand, if the carrying bag consists of a section of an extruded seamless tubing of plastics material, the

carrying handle may be secured to the outside of the respective bag wall, in accordance with another feature of the invention, and both bag walls may have aligned slots for the carrying handle. It will also be desirable to protect adhered leg end portions by a reinforcing strip which extends over the adhered end portions and is adhered to them as well as to the bag wall provided with the handle. In accordance with another feature of the invention, another reinforcing strip consisting of plastics material sheeting which is preferably thicker than the sheeting of the bagmay be adhered to one of the bag walls in the area over the slot. This reinforcing strip stiffens the upper bag portion, which is to be folded on itself, and increases the weight of that bag portion so as to ensure that the portion foldedon itself will assume a closed position and will snugly contact the bag wall provided with the carrying handle. In the embodiment in which the carrying handle is adhered to the inside of a bag wall, the reinforcing strip is preferably so wide that its lower edge is approximately flush with the upper edge of the slot. In this embodiment, the slot is also reinforced by the reinforcing strip because in the filled bag that wall of the carrying bag which is formed with a slot bears on the carrying handle at the lower edge of the reinforcing strip so that the risk of a tearing of the bag is reduced.

The invention will be explained more fully hereinafter with reference to the drawing, which shows two embodiments by way of example. In the drawing FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view showing a portion of a first embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line II-II in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a top plan view showing the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the rim portion of the carrying bag folded on itself,

FIG. 4 is a corresponding sectional view,

FIG. 5 is a top plan view showing a second embodiment,

, FIG. 6 is a sectional view which is similar to FIG. 2 and shows the embodiment of FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 shows the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 with the rim portion of the carrying bag folded on itself, and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 7.

FIG. 1 shows a carrying bag 1 which is made from a web of plastics material sheeting consisting originally of a single ply. A longitudinal seam 2 has been provided to form a tubing from the web. The carrying bag is formed with side gussets to ensure that the bag when filled has a satisfactory shape approximating a parallelepiped. A central fold line of a side gusset is indicated at 3.

One wall 4 of the bag is provided with a horizontal lead-out slot 5,.which is substantially spaced below the open rim 6 of the bag. The carrying handle 8 made in known manner by folding a flat strip of plastics material or paper is adhered to the inside of the bag wall 7. The end portions of the legs 9 of the carrying handle are secured to the wall 7 and are spaced below the open rim 6 to such an extent that the central portion 10 of the handle does not protrude beyond the open rim 6. The lead-out slot 5 is disposed approximately in the middle of the length of the handle legs 9 so that the handle can easily be led out through the slot 5 and that portion of the bag which extends from the lead-out slot 5 to the open rim 6 can be folded onto the bag wall 7, as is apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4.

To protect the fixation of the end portions of the handle legs 9 to the bag wall 7, these end portions are covered by a rein forcing strip 11, which is adhered to the leg end portions and to the bag wall 7. Another reinforcing strip 12 consisting of a plastics material which is thicker than the plastics material of the bag is adhered to the inside of the bag wall 4 over the leadout slot 5. The lower edge of the strip 12 is flush with the upper edge of the lead-out slot so that the latter is reinforced as has been described hereinbefore.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the carrying bag 1 is made from a section of an extruded seamless plastics material tubing and has also side gussets, which have central fold lines 3. In such carrying bag made from tubing the carrying handle 8 cannot be adhered to the inside of the bag wall 7. For

this reason, a lead-in slot 5' in the bag wall 7 is provided in addition to the lead-out slot 5 in the bag wall 4 and the handle 8 is secured to the outside of the bag wall 7 and protected there by the reinforcing strip 1 1. The heights on which the handle 8 and the slots 5, 5' are provided correspond to the heights of the handle 8 and the lead-out slot 5 in the embodiment shown in F108. 1 to 4. In this embodiment, the reinforcing strip 12 is adhered to the outside of the bag wall 7 and it makes no difference whether or not the strip 12 extends as far as to the upper edge of the lead-in slot 5'.

When the carrying bag shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 has been filled, the handle 8 extends through the slots 5, 5' and that portion of the'carrying bag which extends from these slots to the open rim 6 is laterally folded on itself, as is apparent from FIGS. 7 and 8.

What is claimed is:

l. A carrying bag made of plastic material sheeting having an open top in its ready-for-use condition and comprising two opposing walls and a handle comprising a flat strip of flexible material folded to a substantially U-shaped configuration, said handle comprising two legs and an integral carrying portion at one end of said legs, said carrying handle being secured to one of said walls in an upright position at the legs thereof with said carrying portion nearer to the open top of the bag than the free ends of said legs, the length of said legs and their points of attachment to said one wall being such that said carrying portion does not protrude beyond the open top of the bag, the

other one of said walls comprising a lead-out slot in a region above said points of attachment of said legs to said one wall, said lead-out slot being parallel to the open top of the bag and being at least as long as the width of said handle.

2. A carrying bag according to claim 1, wherein the handle is secured to the inside of said one bag wall.

3. A carrying bag according to claim 1, wherein the handle is secured to the outside of said one bag wall and said other bag wall also comprising a lead-out slot aligned with the leadout slot of said one bag wall.

4. A carrying bag according to claim 1, wherein said legs of the handle are adhered to said one bag wall and a reinforcing strip covering said legs and extending over the adhered end portions of said legs, said strip being adhered to said adhered end portions and to said one bag wall.

5. A carrying bag according to claim 1, further comprising a reinforcing strip secured to one of the two bag walls above said lead-out slot.

6. A carrying bag according to claim 5, wherein the handle is secured to the inside of said one wall and said reinforcing strip is so wide that its lower edge is flush with the upper edge of said lead-out slot.

7. A carrying bag according to claim 5, wherein said reinforcing strip is comprised of plastics material that is thicker than the plastics material of the bag. 

1. A carrying bag made of plastic material sheeting having an open top in its ready-for-use condition and comprising two opposing walls and a handle comprising a flat strip of flexible material folded to a substantially U-shaped configuration, said handle comprising two legs and an integral carrying portion at one end of said legs, said carrying handle being secured to one of said walls in an upright position at the legs thereof with said carrying portion nearer to the open top of the bag than the free ends of said legs, the length of said legs and their points of attachment to said one wall being such that said carrying portion does not protrude beyond the open top of the bag, the other one of said walls comprising a lead-out slot in a region above said points of attachment of said legs to said one wall, said lead-out slot being parallel to the open top of the bag and being at least as long as the width of said handle.
 2. A carrying bag according to claim 1, wherein the handle is secured to the inside of said one bag wall.
 3. A carrying bag according to claim 1, wherein the handle is secured to the outside of said one bag wall and said other bag wall also comprising a leAd-out slot aligned with the lead-out slot of said one bag wall.
 4. A carrying bag according to claim 1, wherein said legs of the handle are adhered to said one bag wall and a reinforcing strip covering said legs and extending over the adhered end portions of said legs, said strip being adhered to said adhered end portions and to said one bag wall.
 5. A carrying bag according to claim 1, further comprising a reinforcing strip secured to one of the two bag walls above said lead-out slot.
 6. A carrying bag according to claim 5, wherein the handle is secured to the inside of said one wall and said reinforcing strip is so wide that its lower edge is flush with the upper edge of said lead-out slot.
 7. A carrying bag according to claim 5, wherein said reinforcing strip is comprised of plastics material that is thicker than the plastics material of the bag. 